International Media Watch of news headlines and current affairs reports about Romania

Monday, May 10, 2010

Romania’s Trade Deficit Widened in March on Increased Imports

By Irina Savu

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Romania’s trade deficit widened in March for the first time in three months as import growth outpaced demand for exports.

The gap widened to 856.6 million euros ($1,1 billion) from 669 million euros a year earlier, the Bucharest-based National Statistics Institute said in an e-mail today. The deficit widened from a revised 625.2 million euros in February.

Exports increased 15.1 percent on the year in March while imports advanced 17.8 percent, the institute said. The trade gap is the main component of Romania’s current-account deficit, which prompted the International Monetary Fund to lead a 20 billion-euro international bailout package to Romania last year.